Eduardo Briceño: How to get better at the things you care about

核心思想：

如果想把一件事或一个领域的事情做好，那你要注意，不是不停地去做去做就好。而是要分两个区域去做，一个是学习区，一个是执行区。把事情做得好是执行区的事情，但这个好，是通过在学习区中不断练习、反思、尝试去锻炼的。学习区存在的目标就是不断提高，它的聚焦点在还没有掌握的知识上，而且要不断的犯错误。当在这个区域锻炼好技能之后，把这些已经锻炼好的技能拿到执行区执行，它就会做得和在学习区中我们预想的那样。一个成功的人总是在学习区和执行区不停地切换。我们也应该这样，甚至在学习区中要多花一些时间，去提高，而不是每天一直在执行区中不停地执行，却没有什么提高。

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原文：

Most of us go through life trying to do our best at whatever we do, whether it's our job, family, school or anything else. I feel that way. I try my best. But some time ago, I came to a realization that I wasn't getting much better at the things I cared most about, whether it was being a husband or a friend or a professional or teammate, and I wasn't improving much at those things even though I was spending a lot of time working hard at them. I've since realized from conversations I've had and from research that this stagnation, despite hard work, turns out to be pretty common.

大多数人在生活中不论做什么都是尽自己最大努力，无论是我们的工作、家庭、学习或者其它。我的感觉是这样。我尽了我最大的努力。但是前段时间，我开始认识到无论作为一个丈夫或者是朋友、工作者、团队成员，我所最在意的事情没有做得更好，虽然我花了大量的时间很努力地做它，但感觉还是没把那些事做得更好。通过一次交谈之后我发现，虽然工作努力，但研究还是停滞不前，这是常见的情形。

So I'd like to share with you some insights into why that is and what we can all do about it. What I've learned is that （the most effective people and teams in any domain） do something we can all emulate. They go through life deliberately alternating between two zones: the learning zone and the performance zone.

所以关于原因我想分享几个感受和我们能做些什么。我从有影响力的人和团队在一些领域做一些事进行效仿。他们刻意地让自己的生活在两个领域交替，学习领域和执行领域。

The learning zone is when our goal is to improve. Then we do activities designed for improvement, concentrating on what we haven't mastered yet, which means we have to expect to make mistakes, knowing that we will learn from them. That is very different from what we do when we're in our performance zone, which is when our goal is to do something as best as we can, to execute. Then we concentrate on what we have already mastered and we try to minimize mistakes.

学习区是当我们需要改善自己提高自己。然后我们为了提高做行动规划，聚焦在我们还没有掌握的地方，也就是我们期待去犯一些错误，懂得它，学习它。这在执行区是非常不同的，执行区是当我们的目标自己能做什么的时候，去执行。然后我们聚焦在我们已经掌握的领域和我们尝试去把错误降到最低。

Both of these zones should be part of our lives, but being clear about when we want to be in each of them, with what goal, focus and expectations, helps us better perform and better improve. The performance zone maximizes our immediate performance, while the learning zone maximizes our growth and our future performance. The reason many of us don't improve much despite our hard work is that we tend to spend almost all of our time in the performance zone. This hinders our growth, and ironically, over the long term, also our performance.

这两个区都应该成为我们生活的一部分，但是需要明确的是，无论我们身处哪个区域，制定目标，聚焦精力和满怀希望，帮助我们执行得更好和更好的提高。执行区能最大化我们的即时性能，学习区能最大化我们的成长和我们的未来的执行最大化。虽然努力但我们没有提高的原因就是我们花了很多时间在执行区域。它会阻碍我们的成长，更讽刺的是，从长远看来，也阻碍我们的执行。

So what does the learning zone look like? Take Demosthenes, a political leader and the greatest orator and lawyer in ancient Greece. To become great, he didn't spend all his time just being an orator or a lawyer, which would be his performance zone. But instead, he did activities designed for improvement. Of course, he studied a lot. He studied law and philosophy with guidance from mentors, but he also realized that being a lawyer involved persuading other people, so he also studied great speeches and acting. To get rid of an odd habit he had of involuntarily lifting his shoulder, he practiced his speeches in front of a mirror, and he suspended a sword from the ceiling so that if he raised his shoulder, it would hurt.

所以学习区是什么样的？比如德摩斯梯尼（雄辩家），一位政治家以及伟大的演说家以及古希腊律师 。为了变得伟大 ，他没有把他所有的时间花在做一个演说家或者律师，那是他的执行区。但是相反，他为了提高做了很多行动调整。当然，他已经学了很多。他在导师的指导下学了法律和哲学，但是他还认识到作为一个律师也要涉及说服别人，所以他又学习了大量的演讲和表演。为了改掉在无意识情况下提肩膀的动作，他在镜子面前练习演讲，他在天花板上悬了一把刀，这样如果他抬起肩膀，肩膀就会疼痛。

To speak more clearly despite a lisp, he went through his speeches with stones in his mouth. He built an underground room where he could practice without interruptions and not disturb other people. And since courts at the time were very noisy, he also practiced by the ocean, projecting his voice above the roar of the waves.

为了解决口齿不清让演讲更清楚，他把石头放在嘴里进行演讲。他见了一个可以没人打扰也不打扰其他人的地下室用于练习。要是法庭嘈杂的话，他靠着大海练习，用他的声音压住波浪的声音。

His activities in the learning zone were very different from his activities in court, his performance zone. In the learning zone, he did what Dr. Anders Ericsson calls deliberate practice. This involves breaking down abilities into component skills, being clear about what subskill we're working to improve, like keeping our shoulders down, giving full concentration to a high level of challenge outside our comfort zone, just beyond what we can currently do, using frequent feedback with repetition and adjustments, and ideally engaging the guidance of a skilled coach, because activities designed for improvement are domain-specific, and great teachers and coaches know what those activities are and can also give us expert feedback. It is this type of practice in the learning zone which leads to substantial improvement, not just time on task performing. 

他在法庭上执行区的表现和在学习区的时候是很不一样的，在学习区，他按照安德斯·埃里克森博士所讲的刻意练习去做。这里包含到把能力分解成构成的技能，这样我们就知道我们需要提高的次级技能是什么。比如不要耸肩，将我们的注意力放到舒适区之外的高水平的挑战上，而不是我们目前就能做到的事情，通过反复调整，得到经常性的反馈，有着有经验人的指导，因为为了提高水平设计活动是有区域特性的，最好的老师和教练知道哪些可以做以及给我们一些权威性的反馈。这是在学习区这种类型的练习将取得实质性的进步，不只是花时间在执行项目。

For example, research shows that after the first couple of years working in a profession, performance usually plateaus. This has been shown to be true in teaching, general medicine, nursing and other fields, and it happens because once we think we have become good enough, adequate, then we stop spending time in the learning zone. We focus all our time on just doing our job, performing, which turns out not to be a great way to improve. But the people who continue to spend time in the learning zone do continue to always improve. The best salespeople at least once a week do activities with the goal of improvement. 

举例来说，有调查显示在一个职业工作前两年，表现比较平稳。在教育、大众医学、护士和其它领域都有显现，这种情况的发生时因为我们觉得我们变得足够好了，足够胜任，我们就停止了在学习领域的学习时间。我们聚焦到工作、执行，结果是走上了不能提高的路。但是把时间用在学习区的人一直在提高。最好的销售人员至少每周要制定提高目标。

They read to extend their knowledge, consult with colleagues or domain experts, try out new strategies, solicit feedback and reflect. The best chess players spend a lot of time not playing games of chess, which would be their performance zone, but trying to predict the moves grand masters made and analyzing them. Each of us has probably spent many, many, many hours typing on a computer without getting faster, but if we spent 10 to 20 minutes each day fully concentrating on typing 10 to 20 percent faster than our current reliable speed, we would get faster, especially if we also identified what mistakes we're making and practiced typing those words. That's deliberate practice.

他们通过阅读拓展他们的知识面，与同事或者领域专家沟通学习，尝试新的策略，征求反馈意见并及时反映。最好的棋盘手不是花很多时间在执行区下棋，而是尝试预测大师的移动步骤然后分析他们。我们花了很多时间在打字上面，但是并没有变得更快，但是如果我们每天花10-20分钟去聚焦练习可以比我们现在的可靠速度加快10%-20%的速度，特别是如果我们分析我们犯的错误然后练习那些单词。这就是刻意练习。

In what other parts of our lives, perhaps that we care more about, are we working hard but not improving much because we're always in the performance zone? Now, this is not to say that the performance zone has no value. It very much does. When I needed a knee surgery, I didn't tell the surgeon, "Poke around in there and focus on what you don't know."

在我们生活的其它方面，可能我们更加关心的是我们努力工作但是没有提高因为我们总是在执行区吗？现在，这里不是说执行区没有价值。它有很多价值。当我需要一个膝盖的外科手术，我不必告诉医生，随便看看，聚焦在你不知道的东西上。

"We'll learn from your mistakes!" I looked for a surgeon who I felt would do a good job, and I wanted her to do a good job. Being in the performance zone allows us to get things done as best as we can. It can also be motivating, and it provides us with information to identify what to focus on next when we go back to the learning zone. So the way to high performance is to alternate between the learning zone and the performance zone, purposefully building our skills in the learning zone, then applying those skills in the performance zone.

“我们将从你的错误中学习”我找了一位我感觉工作做得很好的医生，我想让她工作得很好。在执行区允许我们把事情做得和我们能做到的一样。它还有一定的激发性，它可以告诉我们在返回学习区的时候我们应该关注什么这样的信息。所以高效的方法是在学习区和执行区交替，有目的性地在学习区中创建我们的技能，在执行区应用那些技能。

When Beyoncé is on tour, during the concert, she's in her performance zone, but every night when she gets back to the hotel room, she goes right back into her learning zone. She watches a video of the show that just ended. She identifies opportunities for improvement, for herself, her dancers and her camera staff. And the next morning, everyone receives pages of notes with what to adjust, which they then work on during the day before the next performance. It's a spiral to ever-increasing capabilities, but we need to know when we seek to learn, and when we seek to perform, and while we want to spend time doing both, the more time we spend in the learning zone, the more we'll improve.

当碧昂斯在巡演，演唱会期间，她是在执行区，但是每个晚上她回到酒店，她又回到了学习区。她会看刚刚结束的演唱会。她找到了提高她自己，她的伴舞人员，她的摄像的机会。第二天早晨，所有人收到调整笔记记录，这样在下一场之前她就能调整。这两项能力的增长是螺旋形的，但是我们需要知道我们什么时候学习，什么时候执行，当我们想花时间做两样事，多一点时间在学习区上，我们提高就更多一些。

So how can we spend more time in the learning zone? First, we must believe and understand that we can improve, what we call a growth mindset. Second, we must want to improve at that particular skill. There has to be a purpose we care about, because it takes time and effort. Third, we must have an idea about how to improve, what we can do to improve, not how I used to practice the guitar as a teenager, performing songs over and over again, but doing deliberate practice. And fourth, we must be in a low-stakes situation, because if mistakes are to be expected, then the consequence of making them must not be catastrophic, or even very significant. A tightrope walker doesn't practice new tricks without a net underneath, and an athlete wouldn't set out to first try a new move during a championship match.

我们怎样花更多的时间在学习区？首先我们必须相信和懂得我们可以提高，我们称之为成长型思维模式。第二，我们必须区提高那些独有的技能。有一个目标我们需要明确，因为它花费时间和精力。第三，我们必须知道怎样提高，我们可以提高什么，不要像我青少年时候那样常练习吉他，一首首歌的表演，要刻意练习。第四，我们必须要在低风险位置上，因为如果错误在控制范围内，那结果必然不会有重大灾难，甚至是有意义的。走钢丝的人不会在下面没有网的时候练习新技巧，运动员也不会在锦标赛的时候第一次尝试一个新的运动。

One reason that in our lives we spend so much time in the performance zone is that our environments often are, unnecessarily, high stakes. We create social risks for one another, even in schools which are supposed to be all about learning, and I'm not talking about standardized tests. I mean that every minute of every day, many students in elementary schools through colleges feel that if they make a mistake, others will think less of them. No wonder they're always stressed out and not taking the risks necessary for learning. But they learn that mistakes are undesirable inadvertently when teachers or parents are eager to hear just correct answers and reject mistakes rather than welcome and examine them to learn from them, or when we look for narrow responses rather than encourage more exploratory thinking that we can all learn from. When all homework or student work has a number or a letter on it, and counts towards a final grade, rather than being used for practice, mistakes, feedback and revision, we send the message that school is a performance zone.

生活中我们花时间在执行区一个原因是我们的环境经常是不确定的，高风险的。我们给他人创造社会风险，甚至是在本该一切以学习为宗旨的学校，我不是在说标准化测试。我的意思是每天的每分钟，许多学生从小学到大学感觉犯了错误就会被别人看不起。难怪他们总是有压力，不冒着风险去学习。他们潜意识里认为犯错是不好的，会被讨厌的，因为老师和父母渴望听到正确的回答、拒绝错误而不是欢迎他们审视错误、从中学到点什么，或者当我们发现反应比较少而不是鼓励更多有拓展性的思考。当所有的家庭作业或学生功能有一个分数或字母去衡量它，并且计入最后成绩，而不是经常练习、犯错、反馈和复盘，我们会把学校当成是一个执行区。

The same is true in our workplaces. In the companies I consult with, I often see flawless execution cultures which leaders foster to encourage great work. But that leads employees to stay within what they know and not try new things, so companies struggle to innovate and improve, and they fall behind.

同样在工作场合。我给做咨询的那些公司，我经常可以看到领导促进鼓励员工完成 宏伟工作的完美执行文化。但是这种文化让员工停留在他们知道的内容，不做新的尝试，所以很难创新和提高，他们就落后了。

We can create more spaces for growth by starting conversations with one another about when we want to be in each zone. What do we want to get better at and how? And when do we want to execute and minimize mistakes? That way, we gain clarity about what success is, when, and how to best support one another.

当我们想了解对方领域可以通过跟对方交谈创建更多的成长空间。我们想更好的做什么和怎样做？我们什么时候执行和最小化错误？那样的话，我们就清晰地知道成功是什么，什么时候、怎样相互支持做得最好。

But what if we find ourselves in a chronic high-stakes setting and we feel we can't start those conversations yet? Then here are three things that we can still do as individuals. First, we can create low-stakes islands in an otherwise high-stakes sea. These are spaces where mistakes have little consequence. For example, we might find a mentor or a trusted colleague with whom we can exchange ideas or have vulnerable conversations or even role-play. Or we can ask for feedback-oriented meetings as projects progress. Or we can set aside time to read or watch videos or take online courses. Those are just some examples. Second, we can execute and perform as we're expected, but then reflect on what we could do better next time, like Beyoncé does, and we can observe and emulate experts. The observation, reflection and adjustment is a learning zone. And finally, we can lead and lower the stakes for others by sharing what we want to get better at, by asking questions about what we don't know, by soliciting feedback and by sharing our mistakes and what we've learned from them, so that others can feel safe to do the same.

但是如果我们发现我们长期处于 高风险状态而且我们还没有开始那些交流怎么办？作为个体的存在，我认为有3件事我们还可以做。首先，我们可以在高风险的海洋创建低风险小岛。就算失误了结果也不算很严重。比如，我们可能找到有经验的人或值得信赖的同时，我们可以和他们交换想法或者辩论赛或甚至角色扮演。我们也可以召开项目进度的反馈会议。或者我们用多余的时间去阅读或者看视频或者学习线上课程。这些只是举例。其次，我们像我们预期的那样执行，但是下次看怎样做更好，像碧昂斯那样，我们可以观察和效仿专家。观察、反应和调整是学习区。最后，我们可以通过分享我们怎样可以做得更好组织和降低风险，通过问一些我们不知道的问题，通过征求反馈意见和分享我们的错误以及我们从中学到的，让其他人做同样的事时感到安全。

Real confidence is about modeling ongoing learning. What if, instead of spending our lives doing, doing, doing, performing, performing, performing, we spent more time exploring, asking, listening, experimenting, reflecting, striving and becoming? What if we each always had something we were working to improve? What if we created more low-stakes islands and waters? And what if we got clear, within ourselves and with our teammates, about when we seek to learn and when we seek to perform, so that our efforts can become more consequential, our improvement never-ending and our best even better?Thank you.

真正的信心是持续的学习。要是把我们生活中的做做做执行执行换成花更多时间拓展、询问、倾听、实验、反思、努力和变化会怎样？如果我们每个人总是努力去提高会这样？要是我们创立更多低风险岛屿和水源会怎样？要是我们更加清醒，弄清自己，和我们的团队成员，讨论什么时候学习，什么时候执行，那样我们的努力可以变得更加重要，我们的提高不会停止，我们会突破自己。谢谢

原文链接：http://www.ted.com/talks/eduardo_briceno_how_to_get_better_at_the_things_you_care_about/transcript?language=en#t-14840

中文链接：http://open.163.com/movie/2017/2/C/U/MCC01J0QP_MCC021ACU.html